The distribution of "instant winner" gaming tickets, such as "pull-tabs" and "scratcher" lottery tickets, has become an increasingly popular way to allow people to win money or valuable prizes. Typically, a large number of such pull-tab or lottery tickets are printed up by a promoter for distribution to players. Each of these pull-tabs or lottery tickets will have a printed arrangement of indicia on them, such as numbers or fruit symbols, which, under the rules of the game, will correspond to either winning or losing combinations. Generally, a fewer number of winning tickets will be produced for more valuable prizes and a greater number of winning tickets will be produced for less valuable prizes.
In order to enhance the enjoyment of play and prevent fraud, the indicia on the pull-tab or lottery ticket are normally hidden from view at the time the pull-tab or lottery ticket is distributed. In this way, the player will not initially know whether he has drawn a winning or losing ticket. In order for the player to determine if he has a winning or losing ticket, the player must generally pull away an opaque surface on the ticket to reveal the inclicia. In the case of a pull-tab, this opaque surface is typically a paper or cardboard pull-tab cover. In the case of lottery tickets, such as popular "scratcher" tickets, this opaque surface is a gum-like material which can be rubbed off the ticket using the edge of a coin or the player's finger nail.
A continuing concern for pull-tab and lottery promoters is fraud. For example, if a player draws a losing pull-tab, he might be tempted to alter or tamper with that losing pull-tab to make it look like a winning pull-tab and then try to redeem it as a winning pull-tab. To deter such fraud, validation codes which are not readily decipherable to the player, such as bar codes, have been placed upon the outside of pull-tabs. In many cases, these validation codes simply identify, in code form, the combination of indicia inside the pull-tab so that if those indicia are altered, the fraud can be easily exposed. Unfortunately, once a player is able to recognize which validation codes correspond to winning pull-tab tickets, particularly a player who can choose from among a stack of pull-tabs, the player might pick for himself only pull-tabs with winning validation codes.
In order to increase the convenience and enjoyment of pull-tab games, pull-tab dispensing and display machines have been developed. One such pull-tab dispensing and display machine is shown in Clapper's U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,975. In the Clapper machine, a roll of two-ply pull-tab strips is stored, with each pull-tab ply having an identical set of pull-tab indicia. Upon actuation of the Clapper machine by insertion of the player's money, the two plies of the pull-tab strip are internally separated with one of the plies being dispensed open-faced to the player and the other ply being kept by the machine for use in displaying the indicia on a monitor and for record keeping purposes.
While the Clapper machine adds a certain degree of interest and convenience to the pull-tab game, it nonetheless has several disadvantages. First of all, since an open-faced pull-tab is dispensed by the Clapper machine and simultaneously displayed, the Clapper machine is classified as an illegal gambling machine in many jurisdictions. In the eyes of these jurisdictions, the Clapper pull-tab machine is little more than a video slot machine which simultaneously dispenses a written representation of the video display.
Another disadvantage of the Clapper machine, and of nearly all other existing pull-tab and lottery ticket systems, is that there is only one play per ticket. In a business where it is important to both maximize profits and, at the same time, the returns received by the player, the cost of printing pull-tabs becomes a significant concern. The higher the pull-tab printing costs are, the less money there is to distribute in profits to the pull-tab promoter and winnings to the player.